


ball's on your court (no you)

by vapaad



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sports, Alternate Universe - Tennis, Everyone Loves Tony Stark, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Getting Together, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt/Comfort, Italian Tony, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pianist Tony, Protective Steve Rogers, janet and tony are besties, no beta we die like clowns, star trek references because i feel like it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:41:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23752516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vapaad/pseuds/vapaad
Summary: they're tennis players; on opposite sides of the court, but halves of each other within.orthe stevetony pro tennis au
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	ball's on your court (no you)

**Author's Note:**

> they're tennis players. they admire each other. they're gay.
> 
> (this is supposed to be a three parter and it'll total at ~30k ish, i think. That is of course unless i go overboard and lose control haha)
> 
> next part? tomorrow? two months from now? I'm halfway done, I promise. (knowledge of tennis isn't really necessary) (all mistakes are mine, english isn't my first language and all that fun stuff)

SUNDAY

**15 MARCH 2019**

NEW YORK, USA

The arena is quiet. So quiet a pin could drop and its sound can still be heard. Tony Stark is on the court, the U.S Open Finale, the standings at 5-4 on the fifth set. 40-30; championship point. The player can be seen taking a deep breath, readying for the serve of a lifetime. What the whole world realizes is that if Tony Stark wins this match, he would have fulfilled the illustrious calendar grand slams in one season, a surely unimaginable feat in modern men’s tennis. Tony Stark tosses the ball upwards, and he jumps. Upwards a little, he’s swinging with a powerful grace, and the serve breaks through the air with a loud crack, the ball moving at an insane speed. The man across him is none other than the Norwegian tennis player, Thor Odinson, a player of explosive power, and he shows it through a jaw dropping return to the two hundred kmh serve. And so the rally starts. The two players hit back and forth, the sound of the ball coming in contact with the rackets, the air being sliced by the speed of it, those were the only things that could be heard from the court. The rally felt like it went by for years, until Tony Stark breaks through. The Norwegian player hits upwards, a grave mistake. Tony takes a deep breath, he predicts. He jumps.

The muscles of Tony’s arms tighten, burning from the now five hour match. He swings. It’s a smash, and it _lands_. Perhaps now the commentators, the millions watching the match through television, the entire arena is yelling. But Tony hears nothing aside from his own voice, the way it erupts. Tony kneels on the hard courts of New York, and he wants to cry. The arena is still filled with gracious cheers when Tony stands back up. In front of them, history has just been made. The two players come forward to the net, shaking their hands and trading a congratulatory hug. Tony Stark sits down on his bench, his body is almost shaking with disbelief. He rubs a towel to his face, takes the effort to put on his full tracksuit set. He waves towards the crowds in his jacket, his face practically glowing from the historical win. And a little later on, when he kisses the U.S Open trophy for the 6th time in his career, when he holds his fourth grand slam trophy of the year, it all settles in Tony. There’s glory, and his chest is practically swelling with pride. There probably isn’t another happier man alive than Tony Stark right at that moment. He had just won four grand slams in one year, completing the sunshine double. There’s also Italy. Monte Carlo. Cincinnati. A few more here and there. And with there only being so few tournaments after the US Open he is guaranteed for year end number one for the fifth year in a row. The longest streak ever.

The trophy tour is a joy. Holding it up as people cheer for him. The post-match interviews are a breeze, as it always is when you’re champion. Even the rudest won’t make comments regarding retirement. Questions revolve around his game, his next steps after the win, about his opponent. To those, he answers with the news of a vacation. Clearly he needs it. He just won a calendar grand slam, and Tony will admit to wanting to achieve the incredible feat again. But for now, he’d prefer a vacation until Shanghai knocks on his door.

“Anthony!” A loud voice bellows towards Tony.

“Thor, hi! What can I do for you bud?” Tony pats Thor’s amazingly muscle filled arm.

“I’d like to congratulate you on the win once again, I suppose they don’t call you Iron Man for nothing, your stamina has more than tripled this season, my friend.” Thor laughs loudly.

“You put up a strong fight, god of thunder.” Thor Odinson of Norway, known as the god of thunder. The nickname is taken from none other than his lightning fast serves and booming pure power. At 34 years old, people like to wonder how he can keep up that amount of power in his games on long rallies. And to that question, Thor would oftentimes shrug and claim it as just a simple gift from ‘the man upstairs’.

“Always a pleasure playing with you, Anthony. Now I’m afraid I must go and take a look at my brother, he seems to be in a particularly foul mood.” Thor’s brother is none other than Loki Odinson, a lot younger than Thor at 26, a player of amazing speed and a lot of tricks up his sleeve. The name Loki is one fitting of him.

Thor had been one of Tony’s first encounters in the world of professional tennis. At that time, both weren’t exactly the most experienced player, especially in terms of age. Before their ascendancy, comments were made of how the sport was dying in search of a new star, beyond the gifts of the likes of Sampras, Agassi, Becker, McEnroe, and many more. Entering the tour at 17, Tony was a rising star, slowly turning into a supernova. With a stamina only the young could own, power only a young could afford and shots so accurate, the beauty of it is comparable to couture jewelry in the terms of tennis. In short, there had been no other like Anthony Edward Stark before. Born of tennis royalty, and claiming the title of king with ease unlike no other.

“ _Bambino,_ ” A soft voice lulls Tony. His mother. “Antonio, mio caro, I’m so proud of you.” to Tony, there is no greater pleasure than being in his mother’s presence.

“Mama!” For a moment, he is a child again, fresh off picking apples by the hill of their home in Naples. They hug again.

“Where’s Howard?” he knew it was unlikely, but Tony had hoped. He had hoped that for once, his so-called father would be able to set aside his pride and show up.

“Your father told me he has business in Switzerland this weekend,” Maria looked apologetic, but both occupants of the conversation knew it wasn’t her fault. Howard Stark is, after all, a dick.

“ _Seriously_? He’s always bitching about travelling to my tournaments as an excuse. And now- the one time I’m in New York he just fucks off to the Swiss alps?”

“Perhaps it was urgent, Tonio.” Maria Stark always looks for the best in everyone, even when clouded with great disappointment to her husband for not being present.

“You know what? Fine. If he wants to take another one of his broken pet projects he can fuck off. Why don’t we go celebrate instead mama? Rhodey and Pepper are waiting, and I’m sure we can ask Janet to tag along if you’d like.” No frowns, no anger. Smiles only from this point on. It’s not like Tony needs Howard’s approval anyways. His career has long surpassed his father’s by light years. Howard Stark could only hope to be remembered as Anthony Stark’s father and nothing more.

Celebration is always a pleasant thing. But really, after everything is over. There’s nothing more. There’s another trophy on his shelf, a different digit in his bank account, and more numbers to his name. But at the end of the day, he’s alone again. And that sucks. Two fingers of his finest scotch will be poured, as always. The beautiful tune of fingers dancing on ivory. He clinks the glass onto his window overlooking central park. Tonight, he is alone. But tonight, he toasts with the whole city, where the dancing lights of new york joins his celebration. Even if for a short moment only, he feels less alone then.

“To another one, and many more to come.” The amber liquid evaporates in one straight smooth gulp. The tumblr bumps on the marble countertop he lays it on. Now, he rests.

\-----

**_THE IRON MAN TIGHTENS HIS IRON GRIP_ **

_ Elliot Wilkes for The New York Times _

**MILAN---** _Home of fashion, arts, and most recently, tennis. Last night was the wrap party of the Nitto ATP Finals, the tournament that marks the end of the tennis season. There I was privy enough to a spectacle of the best players in the world battling each other with their rackets, akin to the old gladiators of Rome._

_Nation-wide sports hero Antonio (commonly Anthony) Edward Stark bore the crown of champion once more, the trophy set to join his boisterous collection of awards. At 31 years old, his career has been unprecedented. But the year of 2019 has been most kind to him above all. Stark started the year in a relaxing stride, claiming to be playing around- yet still winning the exhibition event- the Hopman Cup. Of course the real fun didn’t begin until the Australian Open, at least for Tony Stark._

_Stark won the Australian Open, the fourth time in his career, citing that he has quite enough grand slam trophies already. Of course I could clearly imagine the picture- 16 already in his collection, lining up in his trophy room which I was privy enough to visit two seasons ago. The cited quote turned out to be a lie. Because after the Australian Open, we see Stark in top shape, breezing through the sunshine double without dropping a single set. He won again in his home country of Italy, and found more glory in its cousin in Monte Carlo. He has got to stop soon, right?_

_Very much no. When we saw Stark lift the illustrious Le Coupe des Mousquetaires of the French Open, defeating rising star T’Challa Udaku in four sets, we felt him knock on our doors as if to make a fool of us for thinking his career will dwindle. It became ridiculous after Wimbledon, where we saw Stark at his greatest; not dropping a single set on the All-England Club’s historic grass court. When he won in Canada and Cincinnati- defeating Canada’s own Howlett, and then Rhodes, we knew what was coming. The US Open._

_It’s crazy to think that a few years ago, at his mid to late twenties, sports journalists thought of Stark to be at his peak. But now, calendar grand slam and nearly twice over career masters in his hands, Tony Stark’s grip on the Tennis world has never been stronger. Post-US Open we assumed he’d wind down after such an amazing performance the past nine or so months. But again, after seeing him lift the trophies of Shanghai and Paris, after seeing him being crowned world no. 1 (for the fifth year in a row now) last week, we marvel at who is nicknamed the Iron Man. Not only is his game as solid as iron, near-unbeatable and unflawed. But we also see the reality of the gift of his hands. So beautiful whilst on court, and so tight is his grip to the throne of the king of tennis. Perhaps the nickname G.O.A.T (Greatest of All Time) will accompany the moniker of Iron Man._

_\----_

SUNDAY

**1 DECEMBER 2019**

NAPLES, ITALY

“Did you read the article they wrote about you in the New York Times?” Pepper brings down her tablet to look at Tony. On another sofa, Tony has his head on Janet’s lap, her hands running a soft stroke through Tony’s hair.

“Which one?” Pepper sighs. It’s not like him to forget something. “The one I sent you, Tony. What was it titled? Iron Man strengthens his iron grip” Pepper continues, scrolling through her texts with Tony in search of the article link.

“Oh that? I don’t know, I don’t really like it pep. Makes it sound like I’m doing a complete monopoly of the game or something.” Pepper thinks it’s amusing, so she raises a simple eyebrow to Tony.

“That’s exactly what you’re doing.”

“What is?”

“Playing monopoly with the game,”

“Oh.”

“It’s not a bad thing, Tony.” Tony thinks Pepper is wrong in this one. Pepper is rarely- or if all wrong. The thing with sports, a player is only as good as their opponents.

“You know Thor’s won titles, a lot of them. There’s Rhodey, Udaku, Barton, Loki- I don’t own the game” The other guys on tour are fantastic too, is his point. The media has an absurd obsession with Anthony Stark, always has. He wishes it weren’t so. Tony’s greatest joy is playing tennis, and he’d enjoy doing tennis as purely tennis and not like the circus it is now. With him as the apparent ring leader in the media.

“But they aren’t like you.” Tony grins at that, but he also raises his eyebrow. This conversation usually happens the other way around. And so, the way it’s laid out now is a little absurd to him.

“Why Ms.Potts, you know for a fact that there’s simply just no one like me.”

“So you don’t like the article?”

“I don’t mind it, I just don’t fancy it.” Tony replies. He closes his eyes and listens to the crackling fireplace in the background. It’s his off-season after all, and there’s no other beauty like christmas in Naples. His home- _actual_ home.

His players are both tennis players, legendary ones. Howard Stark and Maria Carbonell-Stark. A long time ago Tony was born in the middle of a roman summer, he grew up mostly on tour, going to tournaments and meeting other famous players. By age 3 he was picking up a racket and practicing in the lush grass of the Carbonell villa in Naples, the winds of the coastal city hindering the spins of the tennis ball constantly. Looking back to Tony’s childhood, he spent so much of his time travelling on the tour, he can’t imagine a life without it. And so, he made his mind up as a five year old, excitedly telling his mother that he’s going to be a tennis player. Just like mommy and daddy.

As soon as he was capable, he was equipped with a coach. Edwin Jarvis was his, a legend in british tennis- one would be after finally bringing home Wimbledon to the brits. Jarvis to Tony was everything he ever needed, a coach, a mentor and eventually, _a father_. There has always been talks of the Stark boy. How can they not talk of him when he’s the product of two incredible players? The attention became more enveloping the second they branded him _gifted_. Entrusting a child with the brand gifted is oftentimes a mistake, it pressures them, it sinks them, it destroys them. But the same can’t be said for Tony Stark. The minute he joined the junior tour, all hell broke loose. _Talent of another level_ that’s what they all say when asked to describe Anthony Stark. Never before has anyone seen a play more beautiful in the juniors than Tony. They wondered if he will continue to grow, if his prowess will continue. And then, the moment came for his ascendancy. At 17 years old he joined the senior tour- _the actual fun_ \- Tony called it. And have fun he did, how could he not after winning his Wimbledon debut as an unseeded player. The world of tennis will never be the same, words spoken by John McEnroe as he sees the young man lift his Wimbledon trophy.

Dinner is a lovely affair. There’s Pepper, Janet, Jarvis-- accompanied by his wife Ana, and Maria, Tony’s mom. Homecooked fresh seafood and pasta littered their table. And in one of the chairs stood a cellphone with the face of James Rhodes on it, standing on top of books. This is Tony’s family- barring a few other missing occupants. Tony and Janet are discussing her clothing line, how she wants to broach into the men’s section and wants Tony as its face. Janet Van Dyne is a great tennis player- but she also has a penchant for fashion, one would have, to design every single one of her on-court outfits.

“I’m just saying, our sponsors will _love_ it.” she broaches to Tony.

“All I have to do is _breathe_ and the sponsors will love me.” Tony pokes lovingly at Jan.

“This is why Rhodey is my favorite.” Janet Van Dyne is a Parisian girl. She was born in the city of lights, raised there. Tony and Janet met as kids in the French Open, Janet laughing at his messy 7 year-old french only to giggle and respond to him in english. The rest is history. Tony Stark would describe Janet as his tennis wife. People can’t seem to stop thinking that they’re dating. And of course once upon a time it could’ve been true, but it’s not.

Glasses of wine are constantly being refilled through the night, minutes after everyone dispersed we see Tony lying on his back on the grass. The night sky here is beautiful to Tony. He spends most of his time on tour, travelling the world. Aside from that, he mostly bases himself in New York or London during the season, keen on separating work from home. There aren’t stars there, but here you can still see it. Not much, but it’s there. In another life he imagines himself venturing through the stars, his silly dream after too many hours of Star Trek.

“All by yourself?” There’s a body next to Tony now, sitting down instead of lying down, her face floats above Tony.

“Well Carol and Rhodey are with me in heart.” His other two best friends apparently decided to skip on spending off season together this time, same with Bruce and Thor.

“What are you thinking of tones?”

“I’m just tired, Jan.”

“Sweetie you’re not thinking of retirement again, are you?” he rolls his eyes and gets up, curling his knees to his chest. The outdoor air is chilly.

“It’s not that, don’t worry. I’ll probably just lay off a few cups next year.”

“20 tournaments a year taking a toll on your aging body?”

“We have the _olympics_ next year.”

“Aiming for gold, Tony?”

“You know me so well, darling.”

“Still doesn’t explain why you’re tired.”

“I don’t know, Jan. There’s just… I don’t see anything else exciting ahead of me. Maybe I’ll have to change careers, be a pianist or something.” Tony says wistfully. The tips of his hair are being blown away by the wind, and he shivers a little. Tony stands up first, patting down the back of his pants and offering down an arm to Janet. “Let’s go inside, it’s getting kind of cold.”

“ _Kind of?_ I think my fingertips are frozen.”

FRIDAY

**17 JANUARY 2020**

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Tony Stark finally rejoins the tour for the Australian Open. First seed and defending champion, and the ultimate favorite to win. Currently though, he’s enjoying a cup of coffee with his best friend. Australia makes splendid coffee, and it’s in his job as a worshiper of the drink to explore Australia’s finest shops. Well, Melbourne’s finest shops. Rhodey catches him up with the gossip that he missed during the newly held ATP Cup. Personally, Tony skipped out on the ATP Cup, preferring its previous Hopman Cup. Rhodey is currently fourth seed, he and Tony are on opposite sides of the bracket, unlikely to meet and play against each other in the Rod Laver Arena. Well except the possibility of a finals between them.

“Did you know your dad was at the ATP Cup?”

“What was he doing there?” This was the first time Tony’s heard of it. To be honest he hasn’t kept in contact with anyone during the off-season. Let alone tune in to watch live matches.

“He chaperoned- coached us. The US team. Brought two players who we thought were dead, basically.” Tony couldn’t think of anyone who fitted the description. For you to be thought dead… well, that’s a lot of time off, is it not?

“Who?”

“Rogers and Barnes. The brooklyn boys.”

“Rogers? _Steve_ Rogers?”

“In the flesh.” In his early years of being world number one there was a player that stood out. Steve Rogers. They called him a challenger to Tony’s reign. Rogers started the circuit pretty old, at 20. Even won a slam, what they thought was his only. Steve Rogers won his first grand slam in the 2014 US Open, without the presence of Tony Stark, its defending champion. After a loss at the world tour finals, the tennis world just saw him disappear. They haven’t heard from him in what now? 5 years? In tennis, that’s the length of an entire generation.

“Rogers is in your bracket, you’re not really projected to meet, though.” Tony is disappointed at this, if only a little. He admired Steve’s play through 2011-2014. But they didn’t meet on court, ever. He _wants the_ chance to play Rogers.

“I have a feeling we will.” Tony ponders. “Anyways- hitting practice tomorrow?”

Later on in the comfort of his hotel room, Tony broaches the topic of Steve Rogers with Pepper. She’s his agent after all. She’ll probably know everything that concerns him, anything that threatens him, his opportunities. Tony isn’t sure yet where Steve Rogers will fall in the category of his ‘things’. Back in the day, Pepper and Jarvis convinced him to not pay Rogers too much mind, not yet, he hadn’t warranted it yet. _But_ he pointed out to them both that Steve had, for a fact, broken his winning streak in the US Open. They pointed out that Tony was absent from the tournament, unable to actually _defend_ his title. But it didn’t matter, because Steve Rogers just disappeared after winning one slam. And that’s weird. He knows better than most how the thirst for championships feels like. After you win you never want it to stop. Which is why, whenever a player other than him wins a slam, they’re always categorized under ‘threats’. You never really see what a player is truly capable of until they’re drowned in the glory of winning, full of new determination and thirst.

“Steve Rogers.” Tony says to Pepper the moment she enters the sitting room of the hotel suite. Pepper of course, looks down to Tony- “What about Steve Rogers?” she quirks at him.

“I didn’t know he was back. Did you?” Tony inquired to Pepper. A stupid thing to ask, really. Of course Pepper knows. Pepper Potts is undoubtedly the industry’s best agent. She knows everything.

“You know for a fact that I do, Tony. Now why are you asking about Steve Rogers?” she sits down next to him, popping a blueberry picked up from Tony’s bowl into her mouth.

“I really really want to play him, Pep.”

“You’ll have your chance, trust me.”

“We’re not projected to meet, Rhodey said so.” In the past they’ve also never been projected to meet, and so far it has been true.

“Tony. Your father is his coach.”

“Howard? _Howard Stark_? He’s coaching someone? You’re joking. Never in a million years. He didn’t even want to coach _me_.” And if it’s true that Howard is Steve’s coach well, that certainly would hurt. Howard Stark is always stuck in the opinion that no one is as good as him, that no one will ever be able to fulfill his expectations, which was his reason for not wanting to coach anyone. So why would Howard of all people- coach the disappearing act of Steve Rogers? Nothing about it makes a single sense. Nothing. His father’s time has always been ‘precious’ as Howard likes to dub it. He couldn’t even dedicate a little bit of time to his son in the past thirty or so odd-years and now he’s suddenly committing himself to another player?

“That’s just delusional, Pep.”

“Just wait, you’ll see.” And see he did.

**_THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN FULL SPEED!_ **

_ Jefferson Davis for Guardian Sports _

__

__ **MELBOURNE--** _Tomorrow! A day to wait for! The quarter finals of the Australian Open begins, and we are extremely excited to view the matches! Firstly we face the match of rising star T’Challa Udaku, going against the Norwegian god of thunder, Thor Odinson! On the same side of the bracket is none other than a face off between world no.4 James Rhodes against buddy and fellow american- Sam Wilson. Turning our attention, we have a shock in the form of 21 year old Peter Parker! Coming out of nowhere to advance through the tournament and now set to face against the much more senior Logan Howlett. Last but not least, our defending champion, none other than the world no.1, Tony Stark has breezed his way to the quarter finals and is set to face the newly returned Steve Rogers! Their first head to head! The men’s singles are shaping up to be quite the tournament._

_On the women’s circuit we see the russian prima Natasha Romanoff dominating the competition, our bets are for a Van Dyne v. Romanoff replay of the finals! Janet Van Dyne is set to go against the fresh face of one America Chavez! Trailing her is a awaited battle between Carol Danvers and Jessica Drew, the classic friend-rivalry dynamic. Romanoff is set to go against Daisy Jones- we predict an easy win for Romanoff, and again against her projected semi-final opponent Melinda May who is set to face off Bobbi Morse this Tuesday._

TUESDAY

**28 JANUARY 2020**

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Tony Stark isn’t one to usually get excited before a match. But today’s match is _different._ It’s different because Tony Stark straight up admires Steve Rogers- and he’s _finally_ playing him today. He’s sitting in the locker room of the Rod Laver, relaxing his body and getting his warm-ups ready. Through the tournament he’s seen Rogers play and _oh god_ what a magnificent thing to watch. All week long Tony has gotten a front row look to Rogers’ orgasmic forehand. The way the man plays is exciting to him. After nearly two decades on tour, it’s rare for Tony to face off against something new- against someone new. So really, he’s allowed to be excited for his match, just this time. Not to mention he wants to see the frustration on Howard’s face when he beats Steve Rogers in a few hours. Sadly enough, the news of Steve’s tutelage under Howard has proven to be true and Tony may or may not be just a little bit envious.

The loud guitar of AC/DC is a constant in his ears before a match. Soon, he’ll take them off, get a chorus of good luck’s from his magnificent team, and head out to kick ass. He has no doubt that he’ll win- a player never goes into a match thinking they’ll lose after all. Rogers is not only younger, but he probably has one of the best stamina in the entire tour. Rogers went through a whopping amount of three five-setters but he _still_ didn’t look tired during his four-set fourth round match against Barton. That orgasmic forehand of his will be, without a doubt, a threat when coupled with his stamina and that speed. Tony won’t be surprised if the match goes on for quite awhile. After a chorus of good lucks, Tony rechecks his shoes once more, saddling his bag and preparing to go out. He jumps his legs up and down a little in the tunnel and finally-

_“We welcome the defending champion, world number one, Tony Stark!”_ smoke surrounds him as he steps out to the deafening cheers of his fans, waving at them on the way to his bench. He sets down the bag and takes out the rackets, unwrapping his first one and going to the court, shaking hands and taking a picture with the coin tosser, picking his side of the coin.

“I’ll be serving, then.” it’s how he likes it. Tony _loves_ his aces, especially at the beginning of the match. They both turn to the baseline, Tony picking up the balls, putting one in his pocket. He kneels down, bouncing the ball- _once. twice. thrice. throw._ He jumps and hits. _15-Love._ He takes a deep breath next. Tony knows for a fact that Rogers makes superb returns, he’d like to see it. But not unless necessary. He lowers down again, bounces the ball- _once. twice. thrice. throw._ Never more, never less. He missteps a little _damnit_. Tony sees his opponent’s eyes flash with instant recognition of the misstep, ready to return the serve. When the ball makes contact with Rogers’ racket, he realizes where the ball is going- _right_. He steps towards the direction, hopefully to start engaging Steve in a rally.

The length of the rally was 16 shots- Tony counted. Not bad. His careful observation from the days previous marked Rogers as a mostly baseline player, rarely engaging in volleys. Or any net game, really. That surprised him a little, Howard has always been a serve and volley player after all. Back to the present day. Tony won the opening set six to three, in what resulted to be a pretty long set. Right now, he’s the humble subject of his opponents serve as he observes the blonde’s first ace of the match. Not a serve and volley player at all, it seems. As it looks, the second set is pretty tight, The blonde is leading right now, but just barely. It’s their fourth deuce at five to six, but after that ace, Steve has the advantage, and Tony’s afraid that Steve might just take the set. Long match indeed.

_“2020 seems to be the year of superb tennis! Never before have I seen Stark, always the favorite, struggle this way against an opponent!”_

_“Well it’s their first match against each other after all, I reckon Stark is merely attempting to get a read on Rogers before he unleashes those superb accurate shots of his.”_

_“Don’t you think Stark has been making quite the amount of unforced errors? Over the 30 mark, extremely rare of his. Perhaps he’s just not in his game today. As opposed to Stark, this is the best I’ve seen Rogers play throughout the entire tournament! Though I reckon you’d need to bring out your best whenever facing Tony Stark!”_

_“Well John, I suppose we’d just have to tune back in. They’re now in the middle of the fifth set, and in all honesty, this could go either way.”_

Tony admits that he didn’t expect for it to take _this_ long. So far, he’s been winning the odd sets with ease, but Rogers seems to have taken a liking to making his life utterly difficult in the even sets. His thighs are starting to burn like hell, and Tony’s struggling to keep profanities away from his mouth- wouldn’t want a warning from the umpire. When he counts the points and takes account of the fact that it’s Steve serving turn, they’ll probably have to resolve the final set with a tie-break. A fucking joy. It’s six to five on a deuce and his assumptions proved to be correct when Steve equalized their games, triggering the ten point tie break. Tony is going to win points like his life depends on it. And his pride does depend on him winning. Tony admires Steve Rogers, heck Tony has loved every minute of playing Steve Rogers. That doesn’t mean Tony is willing to lose to him, though.

A few minutes later Tony grins to himself. Because finally he’s going to serve. Tony’s currently losing the tie break, a real tragedy. But he’s not world no.1 for nothing. No matter how much Tony just absolutely loathes Howard, his father had once been one of the best servers in the world, something that Tony inherited from the old man. So really, he’ll finish this quickly. No problem.

It’s always the same. Inhale, bounce three times, throw, hit. First ball. It slices through the air at breakneck speed, he knows where it’ll land. An ace. Tony throws again, and when he hits it with a bang, you can barely see the ball. Another ace. The crowd erupts. Across from Tony, Steve Rogers has the tip of his feet twisting on the baseline. Tony grins. Again, he throws overhead, a perfect parabola, the ball is waiting for contact. Three in a row. Steve Rogers is sweating now, they’re at eight to eight after all, who wouldn’t be nervous. It’s cute how the blonde’s eyebrows scrunch up in concentration. Tony inhales, and then he exhales. Sometimes calming himself down is necessary, he’d hate for this to go into another long rally, not when he’s so close to the match point. So when he swings at time with his jump, the ball flies yet again. Superb.

_“Unprecedented! Tony Stark just scored four aces in a row! We’re at match point!”_ -subtly Tony can hear the cheers of everyone in the arena but he’s too focused on getting that last goddamn point. Right. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He bounces the ball, _once. twice. thrice. throw. And Hit!_ The next thing Tony knows the crowd is cheering- but not so fast.

“Fault!” one of the line umpires called the shot. Tony rarely makes a fault, and he simply just wouldn’t ever make one when it comes to an important point. Tony raises his hand, calling the chair umpire for a challenge.

“Mr. Stark has challenged the left corner, the ball is called as fault.” the chair umpire nods to him. Tony sees Rogers place his hands on his hips, as they stare at the screen, the hawk eye starting the replay. The crowd is cheering in anticipation of the result. And Tony is deafened by the screams of his fans when the hawk eye calls it _in_.

“Game, Set, Match, Mr. Anthony Stark.” the umpire interrupts as Tony lifts his fist into the air in victory. After a few seconds, he and Rogers approach the net, shaking hands.

“You play a great game, Rogers.” Tony smiles at the blonde.

“Thanks, Stark. You’re not so bad yourself.” Tony throws his head back in laughter, no doubt the cameras catching sight of their interaction, without the words, at least.

“Let’s do this again, shall we?” Tony winks to Steve, stepping forward to shake the umpire’s hand.

“It’s a date, then.” Tony gets called back for his on court interview. Oh well, he always loves dicking around with McEnroe on international television.

“So Tony, how was Steve?” John leans the mic to Tony’s mouth. “Oh, I think we had a rather great time, even took him to his bench and everything at the end.” the crowd laughs. “Shame you couldn’t have closed it with a kiss- though I reckon five aces in a row beats that.” The crowd cheers at the mention of his game ending run. “I don’t know if it’d beat that, John. But you know what? It surely did beat him” Tony chuckles. He enjoys being a cheeky little shit.

“So Steve, your dad trains him, no?”

“As a matter of fact, he does, yes. It was quite the eruption wasn’t it? Personally I wasn’t informed that my dad basically got another kid until I saw him here.”

“So- we’d see more of you and Steve in the future, perhaps? You two seem to be good buddies already.”

“I mean, I certainly wouldn’t mind it. He’s a great player. This was of course our first match against each other and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by his quality of play.”

“Perhaps you might delight him with a few serving tips, he’s got those arms after all.” Steve _does_ have those arms. Those really big and strong arms.

“Well I could always use a good hitting partner, Rhodes seems to be ditching me for other players lately.” Tony laughs good-naturedly. He can see Rhodey rolling his eyes in Tony’s box, and Tony just waves at him joyfully. “I love you platypus.” he says into the mic.

“You had a great season last year- everyone knows. A calendar grand slam, nearly winning everything, really. Did you do anything special? It was quite astonishing wasn’t it? The only way you’d top that would be with a gold medal this summer, I’m sure.” The mention of the gold medal caused immediate cheers for the crowd, obviously people supporting him.

“Well John you know me, I didn’t do anything special, just took a few beach vacations in the middle of the season. You know, relaxation.” he laughs and covers his mouth. “But no, I’m not sure I’d be able to top last year, it was a lot of effort. Maybe a bit too much effort, really. But yeah, a gold medal sounds nice. It would look perfect on the wall of my trophy room, don’t you think? I’ll make sure to take another AO first, though.”

FRIDAY

**31 JANUARY 2020**

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Tony excitedly swings his arm around Rhodey’s neck after his win against T’Challa in the semi-finals. After already scoring his ticket to the finals the night before, he’s excited to go against his best friend in the finals. It’s been awhile since they’ve had a grand slam duke out. People think it’s strange for them as best friends to want to go against each other, and hell, beat each other so much. But Rhodey is always in the belief that Tony needs a good ass kicking every now and then, and who better to deliver it than his own best friend?

“Okay so, bet.” Rhodey perks up. “If I win, you have _got_ to ask Carol out on a date already.” Rhodey gives Tony a questioning look, as if to ask if he’s out of his mind.

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?” “-oh come on you two have been pining for _ages_! I literally thought you two finally hooked up after ditching christmas in Italy!”

“If _I_ win, you’re going to have to kiss Lang and post it on instagram.”

“Fucking unfair! That means you win in _both_ instances!” Rhodey raises his eyebrows at Tony, how would losing a grand slam be winning, exactly? “Oh you know what I mean! You _want_ to ask Carol out, you’re just a coward.” Rhodey inhales. And then he exhales. “And hey, if you really don’t want to do it, just make sure you win, Jim.” Not that Tony is going to make it easy for him to win. He likes how it’s laid out. If things work out, he’d have his 20th grand slam, on the second day of the second month of 2020. And that’s just plain _amazing_.

“See you Sunday, Tones.” “-bet.”

Rhodey waves at Tony after they part, getting ushered away by his team, leaving Tony alone. Tony subtly wonders whether he should take another tour around the city, go sleep, or bother one of his other friends. Maybe Natasha would like to hang out with him? It’s worth shooting a text

****

_Tony Stark_

Fancy a little finalist hang together, Nat?

_Natasha Romanoff_

Rhodes ditched you yet?

_Tony Stark_

How crude. :(

Yeah, he did.

_Natasha Romanoff_

You poor friendless thing.

Go bother Pepper.

_Tony Stark_

Awww but I’ve been around that other half of the demon redhead twins so much :(

_Natasha Romanoff_

She’s literally your agent, Tony.

_Tony Stark_

Exactly.

_Natasha Romanoff_

Bring dinner for four.

_Tony Stark_

Who r u with???

_Natasha Romanoff_

Clint came in with Barnes and Rogers

_Tony Stark_

Whoa.

That’s rad, I guess.

_Natasha Romanoff_

Changing your mind, antoshka?

_Tony Stark_

Just pleasantly surprised.

Tony thinks for a bit. Barton, he doesn’t mind, they’ve known each other for pretty long and are somewhat friends. Rogers and Barnes… well Tony isn’t really feeling like answering too many questions or pandering tonight. Heck he doesn’t even know why they’re still in Melbourne. Barnes went out in the third round, and Rogers against him in the round of 16.

_Tony Stark_

u know what? nvm

gonna go back to hotel, take a break.

_Natasha Romanoff_

Take care.

And good luck.

Tony sends her back a few thumbs ups, replying with his own good luck to her. His hotel isn’t far, and he decides to walk there. He puts on his hat and quietly exits the arena, hoping no one would notice him. He subtly remembers that Pepper went ahead without him, muttering something about a press conference. So he’ll be walking alone. And as he walked, his anticipation for the finals didn’t recede. He thinks back to his semi-final match with Parker. The kid is ten years his junior and wasn’t really the best match for him. It pales in comparisson to his quarter finals match against Rogers. He remembers how excitedly people reacted post his match with Steve- how they were all excited that Tony could finally show off his skills properly against someone. A possible challenger.

**_STARK TAKES TWENTY!_ **

_ Jack Sock for CNN Sports _

__

**** **MELBOURNE--** _The Iron Man continues his victory run with the first major of the year, marking this win as his twentieth major title, a true testament of the Italian player’s skill. Stark faced off against long term rival and friend, American James Rhodes, their match being their 40th meeting on the opposite sides of the court. Stark, the ultimate favorite to win, played a stellar five setter, ending it with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. Losing the opening set and then proceeding to win two sets in a row as a payback, there were too many close calls in the match for our comfort. But it sure did make an exciting match._

_When approached for questions regarding the win, Stark described that he was “simply overjoyed” and that his match with Rhodes was, in his words “exceedingly pleasant.” he also remarked on how he succeeded to, and I quote “Won my twentieth major title in the year twenty-twenty, in day two of the month two.” overall, the win has shown us that Tony Stark is absolutely not taking a break after his fantastic season last year. As a matter of fact, Stark aims for gold in Tokyo this year, and now we wait for another hopefully terrific season for the Iron Man._

THURSDAY

**20 FEBRUARY 2020**

DUBAI, UAE

“Good morning Anthony, how are you feeling today?” Tony smiles at the british voice, the man it belongs to is sitting on the table littered with breakfast foods, a cup of tea in his hands. _Earl grey, honey, a little milk._

“Delightful, Jarv.” Edwin Jarvis is _the_ man. His coach. Jarvis has known Tony since ‘before he was even in knickers’ as the man usually puts it. Jarvis, for better or worse, has practically raised him for just about the longest time. Personally, Tony can’t imagine what his life would look like without his guidance.

“Go on and eat now, wouldn’t want you passing out in practice, would we?” He doesn't remember agreeing to practice today.

“And here I thought you were just here to accompany me for breakfast.” he grabs a croissant, readily biting it.

“For goodness sake Anthony, use a plate, you’d litter crumbs all over the place.” Tony rolls his eyes, but does so anyway. He cuts through his croissant and fills it with ham for Jarvis’ benefit as well.

“Anyways- I don’t remember doing practice today? It doesn’t say so in the spreadsheet either.” he remarks whilst taking a bite of his croissant.

“Your father arranged it, actually.” well that was more than a bit strange, he didn’t even know the Rogers-Barnes wonder duo would show up in Dubai. He thought they’d have their fill, after winning in Rotterdam (Rogers) and Rio (Barnes). But then again, why else would his father be in Dubai?

“He requested you for practice with Steve Rogers and James Barnes. And seeing as you’ve always been enthusiastic by the prospect of Steve Rogers, I took the liberty of accepting.” Tony blushes at Jarvis’ comment on Tony’s fixation on Steve.

“I just think he’s interesting, that’s all.” As a matter of fact, Tony had watched every single one of Steve’s matches on television post Australian Open. Jarvis rolls his eyes.

“Well, you’ll also be meeting Barnes so let’s not fixate yourself on Steve too much, wouldn’t want the poor boy to feel excluded.” He’s heard of Barnes before, mostly through second hand stories from Natasha and Rhodey, Rhodey who faced him in Rotterdam and is now in Acapulco.

“Hurry on for a change of clothes, Anthony. Wouldn’t want to keep them waiting now, would we?”

\----

Okay so. Tony may or may not have loudly admired Steve’s biceps in the Australian Open. He may or may not have also waxed poetic about it when close-ups of it were shown on television during his viewing of the matches to Pepper. _For research_. He told her then. But now, under the sun of Dubai, Steve Rogers makes adonis look pale in comparison in his tight fitting grey nike kit. God, why did men have to be so hot again?

Rogers greeted him with a smile, waving and shaking his hands after running to him and Jarvis at their entry. It seems that Rogers and Barnes had arrived here first.

“Rogers.” he says good-naturedly, at least he hoped it came out good-naturedly.

“You can call me Steve, you know.” the blond grins at him, and god what a beautiful smile.

“Then call me Tony.” he replies. Oh god he’s on a first name basis with Steve Rogers. Why is he freaking out about this?

“Well okay, Tony.” Steve says his name with a smile, and Tony loves the sound of his own name being spoken by Steve. And no, he’s not a narcissist for liking nice things like that. “Let me introduce you to Bucky- sorry, James Barnes.”

Tony knew for a fact that Steve and James are close, he’d guess that their relationship is pretty similar to those of him and Rhodey. Brothers. Though he can’t hold the same statement when it comes to brothers on court. He’s seen Steve play doubles with Barnes, and he’s seen just how explicitly _good_ they are together. They complimented each other perfectly on court. And true to their testament as ‘brothers’, Barnes had disappeared along with Steve after the USO win. He does remember now though, how the two were a common fixture in the men’s doubles world of the grand slams. Tony at the same time also wonders, why they’re not playing doubles together again.

“Tony, meet James Barnes. Bucky, this is Tony Stark.” Tony reaches out his hand to Bucky for a hand shake.

“It’s nice to meet Steve’s James” he smiles at the figure of James Barnes.

“Well it’s nice to meet you too, should I also call you Steve’s Tony?” Tony full on laughs at the comment. Oh what a thought.

“No it’s just I have a James of my own at home, might’ve met him a few times. Pretty tall, handsome, grouchy, and pretty overall cuddly. A ten out of ten James, really.” he sees Barnes smiling at that, Steve is just bashfully laughing.

Until he stops. “Sorry it’s just, I’d probably describe Bucky the same way.”

“Well you know us James have to stick together.” Tony would love to know if all the James’ on tour have a secret society of James or something.

“Oh yeah, Howard said we should just start along? He says Mr. Jarvis would be able to walk us through some serving and hitting practices.” Tony sees Jarvis nods at that.

“Anthony, why don’t you and Steve trade volleys with each other, I had heard Mr. Rogers isn’t quite strong at that. And now you, Mr. Barnes, why don’t we talk about your serve? I believe it to be splendid, but there’s always room for improvement.” The three players nod at Jarvis like a triplet of five year olds. Tony unzips his bag for his racket, taking a couple of balls and putting two in his pocket.

Tony stands on one side of the court, and Steve on the other. “Maybe we could go up to a hundred without dropping? We’d start over every time it drops.”

“Sure, Tony. You can start.”

After the one hundred vollleys, they did some more hitting practice, trading partners. On top of that, Steve and Tony decided to do a small one set sparring match, Barnes opting out on grounds of tiredness. Jarvis did a number on him. Tony enjoys playing Steve very much, and without the burden of having to win, he played much more relaxingly, occasionally letting Steve score a point pass him on purpose. He hasn’t had a pro- well aside from Jarvis, to practice with for a while now, with Rhodey, Janet, Carol, Natasha, Thor and a variety of his friends on their respective tours.

Tony and Rhodey, the good friends they are, have rather conflicting tour schedules, meeting only in grand slams and Master 1000 events. Tony thinks that he should enquire Steve for his number, and possibly his tour schedule. Of course he can always just google that but he’d prefer knowing from the man himself. A part of Tony is sure a lot of their schedules line up. Steve’s is tailored by Howard Stark after all, and he and Howard share a few similarities, favorite events in the circuit being some of them. But then again, what need would Steve have for Tony? It’s not like he needs another hitting partner or a spar partner, him and Barnes are practically attached to the hip after all. In his pondering, Tony didn’t realize that Steve had gone past his defense and just scored the final point of their spar. Wonderful.

“You play a great game, Rogers.” he shakes Steve’s hands in the net.

“Funny. You said that the last time too, the difference is I won this time.” Steve, hands and body drenched with sweat, walks with him to where Jarvis and Bucky are passed out on the sidelines.

“Well, I’ll have to make sure to win next time then.” He grins. He’ll make sure.

“I wouldn’t count on it, you’ll have to share _sometimes_.”

“I share all the time!” And he _does_ share, sometimes, Though he doesn’t know why him not winning titles would count as sharing.

“If you share all the time I’m sure Thor and Rhodes would have at least five more majors each- not that Thor is doing badly, anyways.”

“You know Thor?”

“I think everyone knows him, the same way everyone knows you.” Tony ignores the last part of the comment, surely Steve knew that Tony meant as friends.

“You know what I mean.” Tony thinks he heard Steve giggle, but he’s probably just hallucinating it.

“I actually met Thor fresh off the junior tour, we’re… friends.” there’s a hesitant pause in Steve’s voice when describing them as ‘friends’.

“Huh, really? I was practically adjoined with tour because we started the tour together.” And they were. He still remembers the headlines and how people were constantly calling him and Thor the two greatest players of their time- and possibly of all time. He remembers getting questions about Thor constantly at press confrences and interviews- he still gets them until now, and the same is also said for Thor. They were rivals, and being two young kids- albeit one slightly younger than the other, slowly grew a great respect for each other on court, and a blooming friendship off court.

“Thor mentions you to me a lot, actually.” Well that’s an interesting thought. Tony knows that Thor is an extremely friendly guy, and he _does_ like to dramatically recite his wins and losses and ‘beautiful encounters’ with Tony when given the room. He loves the guy.

What’s funny is, Tony never heard Thor talk about Steve. Not during Steve’s early career days when Tony was enamored by the thought of Steve Rogers, and not recently after Steve’s return even with Tony’s outright admiration for the player. Tony hopes that Thor never mentioned his past and maybe even present obsession with Steve, he doesn’t know how to escape the awkwardness of that conversation.

“All good things, I hope?”

“Oh yeah. He was always enthusastic to talk about you.” That sounds like Thor.

“You know what’s funny? Thor never really mentioned knowing you to me.” Tony hopes that it’s not the wrong thing to say. He’d hate to offend Steve.

“I’m honestly not surprised, with my whole… disappearing thing.” Right. Steve Rogers was dead to the tennis world for years.

“What was that all about anyways? Disappearing in the height of glory?” Tony sees Steve frown and his face twist in sourness. Fuck. Okay, don’t mention the disappearing thing.

“A story for another time, I think.” Tony thinks he just fucked things up after only becoming friends with him this morning. Way to go Stark. “I’m not mad at the question, Tony. You can relax.” and Steve smiles at him, again. Steve seems to do that a lot, smiling at people. And it’s fucking contagious.

“Congratulations on Rotterdam by the way.” Tony painfully tries to change the subject of conversation.

“Thanks, Tony. You’re planning to take Dubai again?”

“I’m not planning to, darling. I’m _going_ to.” Tony grins.

“I mean, I think I’ll provide you with a bit of a challenge, for one.” Tony knows the truth of the statement. Steve will be a challenge, that’s why he’s categorized under ‘threats’ by Jarvis and Pepper.

“Well you’ll have to call me up and warn me if we’re going to face each other, then. I’d hate to lose against you.”

“You just did that, you know. Lose against me.”

“Oh you know that didn’t count, Rogers.”

“And I don’t think I’d be able to call you up.” Oh, did Tony take in the social cues incorrectly? “I mean- I’d love to, it’s just I don’t have your number.” Is Steve asking Tony for his number?

“Are you asking me for my number, Mr. Rogers?” a sly grin.

“Only if you’d like to correspond with a loser.” a sheepish smile.

They exchange numbers, of course. Steve hands his phone to Tony, telling him to put in his own contacts into Steve’s phone.

“I’m under Number One.” Tony hands back his phone to Steve.

“Far as I remember, you’re number one, not under number one, Tony.” That is such a lame joke. He laughs anyway.

“Yeah yeah.”

“Hey there love birds, ready to go?” _love birds?_ He’d like to have whatever Barnes is on.

Steve and Barnes leave first, leaving Tony and Jarvis in the practice court. Tony happily concludes that Steve is one of the nicest guys he’s met on tour. The guy was practically acting as if they were best friends after a few hours of actually befriending each other. And heck, Tony doesn’t even mind! He’d love to have a friend like Steve.

“You had fun, Anthony?” Jarvis is giving him a smile. He’d like to know what it means.

“It wasn’t a _playdate_ Jarvis. We were practicing.”

“I don’t condemn it, boys are boys, pro tennis players or not.” Jarvis continues- “Now then, I assume you and the good Mr. Rogers traded contacts?”

“Well, yeah.” of course Jarvis expects him to do so.

“Good. Because I’m sure you lot will be seeing each other often enough. James enlightened me of their schedule, it’s much more simillar to yours than Thor’s, Jim’s, or Bruce’s. They’d make splendid partners for you to practice with.” Tony doesn’t know how to feel about that. On one side, he’s more than happy to spend time with Steve and Barnes. What he’s worried about though, is the presence of Howard Stark. Howard is, after all, the two’s coach, even with his shocking absence throughout today’s practice. Tony isn’t sure how his mental stability will fare through extended contact with his asshole of an estranged father. Probably not well.

Jarvis knows him better than anyone in the world, so he knows clearly what the look on Tony’s face means. “I’ll make sure we do them with as little presence of Howard as possible, don’t worry.”

Tony doesn’t know how Jarvis will manage that, there’s no reason for Howard to relinquish a few hours of his mentees time to play around with Tony after all. He accepts the comforting thought anyway. Even if, Tony can be _perfectly civil_ with his father whenever. After all, there’s been many occurrences that the two Stark men needed to play a tightly knit father-son duo. In his opinion, he deserves accolades for being able to just stand being in the mere presence of his father. And hey, for the acting as a loving son part? Well he deserves _at least_ an academy award for that.

But it’s all fine. Tony likes his new friends. And it’s always nice to have friends on tour, it can get lonely sometimes. Of course, Pepper and Jarvis are always present, along with the rest of his team and his mom for the most part is also there. Tony has a lot of acquaintances on tour, one would, after nearly two decades. But he’s constantly apart with his _actual_ friends. Rhodey and Thor, his two closest compatriots, are close to him in rankings, always minimizing the chances that they meet. Sure they hang out outside the tournament itself, but it’s getting rare and rare becase again- their match days don’t usually coincide, meaning one is always busy when one is not- and vice versa. Right now, Steve Rogers is low enough in the rankings to warrant more meetings with Tony, the draw _was_ created with that thought in mind after all. He muses on whether or not Steve and he will play each other again in the next few days. Of course it all depends on their brackets and opponents. He’s not going against Steve in the first round though, that’s for sure.

Speaking of his new friends, Tony realizes that he may or may not have made a slight misjudgment of their characters. He remembers the night after Rhodey’s semifinal and his refusal to hang out with two pairs of wonder twins (read: Barton-Romanoff, Barnes-Rogers). Stating annoyance to the possible incessant questioning. When taking account of today’s interactions, it’s more like Steve has been the subject to his incessant questioning, not the other way around. Maybe if he said yes that night, they’d be good friends by now? what a thought. No use in pondering on the past. Back to today. In Dubai. In the beginning of the tennis championships.

All in all, he’d make a bet to himself, try not to drop a set through the entire tournament. Win it again, and then get ready for the sunshine double. He reckons that his friends will stand in the way of him defending all of his titles from last year. Heck he’s already giving up one by not doing Monte Carlo, choosing instead to start clay season a bit later into April. Tony’s currently more focused on the gold though. He doesn’t have a men’s singles gold medal, and he can’t retire completely happy without it belonging to him, not a single chance. He’ll have quite the fight for gold this year, probably, seeing as this would be the last olympic games for a lot of them. Possibly him, possibly Rhodey, possibly Thor. For a moment he entertains the thought of him playing in the 2024 olympics at 36 years old. Play it, yes. Win it? Unlikely. Steve is right, he _does_ have to share sometimes. No matter how much he hates to do it.

Tony’s phone buzzes with a notification. Jarvis looks over to him, “Who is it?” Tony shrugs. He sees a simple text.

_Unknown_

Hey there, it’s Steve.

Well that answers Tony’s question.

_Tony Stark_

Oh? All I read is the name unknown

_Unknown_

Save me to your contacts :(

Tony chuckles, imagining Steve frowning. Jarvis raises his eyebrows at him. “It’s just Steve.” Jarvis shakes his head and mutters something under his breath that’s unclear to Tony. Another message.

_Unknown_

A simple Steve Rogers is fine :)

Tony also imagines Steve’s smile.

_Tony Stark_

Still have me as Number One in ur phone?

_Unknown_

Yep.

_Tony Stark_

Oh well, Captain Pike it is.

We’ll figure out a better one later.

_Captain Pike_

Oh Tony, you simply shan’t call me your superior.

_Tony Stark_

Watch it, Rogers.

_Captain Pike_

Of course, mister world number one.

I’m coming for you ;)

Cheeky little bitch. Yeah, that’s a good way to describe Steve Rogers.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on
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> feel free leave a kudos and a comment if you like the fic! (I love them!!!)


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